A general coaching and training craze has recently swept the United States and other countries. People around the world, but particularly in the United States, have looked to coaches to assist them in everything from work related issues to nutrition to “how-to-succeed” in life. On the health and fitness side, the trend goes from fat-free potato chips to treadmills and people around the world have become obsessed with weight loss, healthy living and living a “good life”. Accordingly, record numbers of new fitness products, health techniques and coaching needs have emerged to meet these needs and obsessions, including stair climbers, treadmills, recumbent bicycles, ski machines, rowing machines, weight lifting machines, and the like, as well as Pilates, various forms of yoga, life coaching etc.
As in all instances, however, products and techniques must be utilized regularly to be useful, whether for weight loss, for improving cardiovascular stamina, and for strengthening various muscles, in the case of physical training, to practicing regularly the tenets of motivational coaching to strengthen one's ability to achieve goals in their life.
Physical Training and Wellness Coaching
While many pieces of exercise equipment include a monitoring device that may include a pulse monitor, a distance meter, a rate monitor, a time monitor, a strain gauge, an accelerometer and/or any other sensor for measuring the physical activity/performance level of an user on the equipment, they often do not provide a true picture of the benefit of any given exercise regimen and they do not motivate a person to continue to use them when there is no one pushing them to do so.
A limiting factor of many exercise machines and exercise routines is that they are boring to utilize because of their inability to encourage a user to continue exercising. In the case of machines, display screens that depict a user's location within a selected exercise program may be provided; however, they typically include dull graphics.
One solution to improving graphical rendering is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,868 (“'868 patent”). In the '868 patent, an exercise monitor outputs a signal representative of the performance level of a user utilizing the exercise equipment (e.g. pulse rate, distance traveled, time exercised, rate of exercise, etc.). The performance level signal then is fed to a video game player wirelessly or via a cable and the output from the exercise monitor is utilized to control the video game character's performance level within a video game that runs on the video game player.
While this can serve to motivate the user while they are on the machine, it does not assist in motivating the user to use the machine when the trainer is not present. It would be desirable to provide a personal exercise monitor and motivational system that transmits personal data and/or exercise program selections to a trainer who can then provide individualized motivational messages and reminders to prompt the individual to exercise even when the trainer is not present or in personal contact with the client.
While more and more people are exercising in order to improve their general health and physical fitness, for the average person, however, a lack of motivation can significantly hinder their efforts. In addition, the natural tendency is to try and achieve the greatest results in the shortest possible time. When typical measurements of physical fitness and progress such as weight loss are monitored, however, expectations often are not met and unless there is some form of constant reminder that such ultimate fitness takes time and continuous effort the person may choose not to take the required time every day. The result can be a lack of motivation, which in turn leads to a cessation of exercise.
While athletes of all ages are usually able to overcome motivational hurdles by having an ultimate end goal, most individuals who seek to improve their fitness do not have that internal motivational drive or clearly defined end goal. Human nature, especially today, demands instantaneous feedback for motivation and encouragement.
Many individual also do not know how to train effectively for maximal improvement and turn to trainers for assistance and guidance. For example, runners may have difficulty determining whether their pace on a particular day of training is too fast or too slow. While running on a track or treadmill may allow the runner to monitor his or her speed, speed alone is often an inadequate way to monitor optimal training levels.
There are methods of providing feedback to individuals engaged in a physical activity which do not necessitate a trainer. For example, competition, can provide feedback concerning the individual's past training efforts in a particular physical activity. Competition feedback, however, is provided long after the training regimen has been completed, and therefore only allows for adjustments in subsequent training. In addition, many individuals are only interested in improving their general health and physical fitness rather than competing against others.
Another method of providing feedback to an individual engaged in a physical activity is heart rate or other biometric monitoring. Heart rate monitors have become common place in the exercise industry and entire training programs have been developed based upon the data provided by these monitors. While heart rate and other biometric monitoring is a useful tool, the data can be difficult to interpret. In addition, many individuals often resort to standardized tables in order to determine target heart rate training zones. Such standardized tables, however, only provide generalized guidelines which may or may not be appropriate for a particular individual or a particular physical activity. Thus, while monitoring and feedback are important and do provide some information to assist an individual in achieving their health related goals, they do not provide the motivational element which is key to continued improvement in the physical activity sphere.
Accordingly, physical training is often scheduled and executed by coaches or trainers who seek to establish routines and then quantitatively evaluate the training effects of the physical training. However, physical training cannot be efficiently performed for each person unless that person undertakes to participate in the routines even when the coaches or trainers are not present to spur the individuals on, correct any improper exercising and ultimately to ensure that the individual is pushing themselves to optimize the gain from the routine, rather than just going through the motions. To achieve such participation, constant motivation and affirmation of success or accomplishment is often required.
Unlike sports coaches and trainers, wellness coaches do not focus on changing specific behaviors, like correcting a bad swing in baseball. Instead, they develop their clients' overall strengths and abilities. Wellness coaches give their clients the motivation and tools they need to achieve their physical and emotional health goals.
Wellness coaches can show a client steps to take and give them encouragement to reach goals such as:                Lose a few pounds        Eat better        Quit smoking        Reduce stressUnlike a nutritionist or physical therapist, who makes specific diet and exercise recommendations, a wellness coach will help a client make better general choices that fit within their lifestyle. However, just like a sports coach or trainer, there is the need to continue to communicate with a client to reinforce goals, encourage continued activity towards that goal and motivate the client to strive on a daily basis toward the goal. In short, to get the client to continue to move forward even on the days when the coach and the client do not see or speak to one another.        
Life Coaching and Training
Life Coaching is a profession that is profoundly different from consulting, mentoring, advice, therapy, or counseling. The coaching process addresses specific personal projects, business successes, general conditions and transitions in the client's personal life, relationships or profession by examining what is going on right now, discovering what obstacles or challenges might be, and choosing a course of action to make their life be what you want it to be. It is often a process whereby the coach and client arrive at a goal that is client determined and a path to achieving that goal is laid out with focused action that is set by the client. However, reaching those goals takes hard work and persistence. Often individuals require support, accountability and other motivation to be pushed and challenged in order to continue to strive to reach their goal.
Life coaching is all the rage. Harvard Business Review reports that coaching is a $1 billion a year industry, but just what is a personal coach, professional coach, or life coach and why are so many executives and individuals using them to catapult their careers, break free from 9-5 jobs, and to create better, more fulfilling, richer lives?
First, what is a professional coach? The International Coach Federation (ICF)—the leading global coaching organization and professional association for coaches—defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”
Second, who's using coaches? In a 2009 study of the professional coaching industry by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), they found that coaching was used by 90% of organizations surveyed and that even in the economic downturn, 70% report that they are increasing or maintaining their commitment to coaching. Coaching is clearly popular, but what does a professional coach do? Personal coaching, professional coaching, and life coaching involves a unique relationship between a coach and client.
Life coaches provide the incentive and direction their clients need to improve their careers, relationships, and lives. They help clients to:                Hone in on their skills and ambitions.        Refocus their life's goals.        Overcome obstacles that stand in the way of achieving goals.        
Life coaching is a designed alliance between coach and client where the coaching relationship continually gives all the power back to the client. Generally, a client will sit down with a life or wellness coach over the telephone or in person for anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour to discuss what the client wants to accomplish. Goals will be defined and challenges that could stand in the way of success will be similarly be defined. The client and coach will outline steps that the client needs to take to achieve the goals and will detail what the client must do between coaching sessions in order to work towards those goal.
While a life or wellness coach, like a sports and fitness coach or trainer, can offer support and guidance along the way, it is ultimately the client who must be the active participant who performs the daily, weekly and monthly activities necessary to achieve their goal. Just like the coaches and trainers who push athletes to achieve greatness in sports, trainers and life and wellness coaches push their clients to achieve success in their health, physical wellbeing, career, relationships, and lifestyle.
All of these coaches and trainers have the need to be able to provide regular and easily accessible motivational messages and contacts to clients to reinforce their actions and prompt them to regularly perform what is needed to achieve success and their goals. The instant invention fulfills that need.